The second event of the 2019 Poker Masters saw the game switched to Pot-Limit Omaha as 62-entrants took a seat inside the PokerGO Studio. After 17 full levels of play, Ryan Laplante finished as the chip leader with 2,540,000 in chips heading into Wednesday’s PokerGO streamed Event #2 final table.

1. Poker Table Tops
2. Ryan's Poker Table #4

After opening the 2019 Poker Masters with one of the biggest $10,000 buy-in tournaments the PokerGO Studio has seen, the numbers decreased as the cards increased for Event #2. With the game switching from No-Limit Hold’em to Pot-Limit Omaha, a new crop of players took a seat and created a prize pool of $620,000.

With the action flowing throughout the day, the redraw to the final two tables immediately saw a flurry of eliminations as Manig Loeser would be the eventual bubble boy in tenth place. Anthony Zinno (9th) and Brent Roberts (8th) all fell before the final seven redrew to one table, and although action stalled for a little, eventually it would be Damjan Radanov eliminated in seventh place to conclude play for the day.

The final six players are currently all guaranteed a $37,200 payday, but all eyes will be set on the first-place prize of $186,000 and the title of Event #2 champion. The player best positioned to claim that first prize is chip leader Ryan Laplante. Not a regular in these High Roller tournaments, Laplante is taking advantage of his opportunity after winning several key hands down the stretch to ascend to the top of the leaderboard. If Laplante can win this event, it will be just $4,000 shy of his biggest career cash when he won the 2016 WSOP Event #12: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet for $190,328.

Sitting second in chips is Thai Ha who finished in eighth-place in Event #1. Ha held the chip lead – along with Laplante – for the latter stages of the tournament, but after losing several pots to Laplante and others, he slipped down to finish with 1,730,000. Although Ha is one of the lesser known players at the final table, he is fresh off a WSOP Europe where he collected six cashes including a second-place finish in the €25,500 No Limit Short Deck Hold’em – High Roller for €457,964.

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Third overall is the defending Poker Masters Purple Jacket holder Ali Imsirovic. Although he arrived to the final table of seven players as one of the short stacks, he rode a mini-heater and eliminated Radanov to finish with 1,596,000 in chips and is in position to collect points to make a run at back-to-back Purple Jacket victories. In fourth place is John Riordan with 990,000 in chips courtesy of a double through Ha a few hands before play concluded. Riordan has been a regular in the Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments held in the PokerGO studio, but this will be his first cash in either of the U.S. Poker Open or Poker Masters series’.

Rounding out the final spots at the final table are Chance Kornuth and Tim McDermott with 545,000 and 410,000 respectively. Like Ha, Kornuth already collected a cash in Event #1 when he finished in second-place to Isaac Baron for a $164,900 payday. Already a regular in the PokerGO studio with appearances on Poker After Dark and other shows, Kornuth is making a run at becoming the 2019 Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner as a fifth-place finish sees him tied with Baron, while a fourth-place finish gives him the lead – and barring a Ha victory in Event #2 – he will be the points leader heading into Event #3. McDermott is another player new to the High Roller scene in the PokerGO Studio, but after 10 cashes during the WSOP which included a second-place finish in the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice, he will be hoping to spin up his 14-big blind stack to collect the first-place prize that is nearly twice his biggest career score.

The button is on Thai Ha, and there is 26:04 remaining in Level 18 with blinds at 15,000-30,000 and a 30,000-big blind ante.

The Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha final table begins at 12 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, November 6, with action continuing until the Event #2 champion is crowned. Follow every hand when the PokerGO coverage begins at 1 p.m. (PT) / 4 p.m. (ET).

Follow the final table exclusively on PokerGO through your favorite devices and in the embedded player below. Can’t watch live? Catch the action on-demand at your leisure. New to PokerGO? Subscribe right now.

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There are many reasons to play poker, all of them are valid. Some play to gamble, some play to socialize, some play to make money, and some play for the exceptionally deep strategy of the game. If you fall under the last two categories, then this will be the series for you!

There used to be a common line of thinking that playing poker “by the book” wasn’t a fun way to play the game, as though doing so meant you couldn’t play a lot of hands, and had to play tight, or “boring” poker. This isn’t true at all!

Fundamentally-sound poker very strongly encourages you to play a lot of hands, and to play them with a level of aggression that many in the past would consider to be a bit reckless. The tough part, though, is that playing this style requires a very advanced understanding of the game in all aspects.

This series will give insight into each aspect of the fundamental approach that is required to play the game at a high level. Articles will include basic informative ones such as this, in-depth theory, and real hands I’ve played from high-stakes tournaments. My goal is to help you have the same respect, appreciation, and joy for the game and industry that I have.

In this first article I am going to discuss the important decisions you need to make before you enter a game, and the main aspects of a hand of tournament poker.

Before you hand over the money needed to enter a tournament, you need to be confident about the following questions:

Why am I playing? – What is motivating you to play is an important part of how you should approach the game. Playing for fun or to socialize; or to play to make money or professionally, should dramatically impact how focused you are and how you approach your decisions at the table.

Do I have the time to play? – Tournaments take a long time and are a true commitment if you are going to win. Making money from them consistently takes a large amount of games played.

Can I afford to play? – I cannot overstate the immense amount of variance in tournament poker. If you are playing for fun you need to be able to be 100 percent okay with losing that money, and it can’t have a negative impact on any other aspect of your life to ANY degree. If you are playing seriously you need to be fully properly rolled for a tournament; One of my future articles will likely discuss bankroll management.

How difficult is the tournament? – Will you feel outmatched in this field, and will you have an edge large enough to justify playing are important things to know if you desire to be a profitable player.

Am I mentally prepared to play? – Being in the right type of mindset; one focused on great decisions only and not on results, is a very important part of being successful at the table. If you can’t give the game the attention it needs in order for you to perform at a high level, you will learn quickly the steep cost of that mistake.

We asked the important questions above, and have concluded that we are able and willing to play. Now we have to be prepared to consider each of the following aspects of EVERY hand we play. Below are those key factors.

Stack Depths – How deep are you playing, how deep are your opponents. Your stack depth demonstrably dictates what types of hands you may play and how you may play them. Your opponents’ stacks do as well, and are an important consideration in any decision you make.

Ante Size – This greatly impacts how loose we can open and should be defending. The more that is out there to win the more we need to battle for it.

Number Of Opponents – How many players you are up against will affect how aggressively most people play and impact table dynamics.

Position – How many players left to act behind you, how likely you are to have position, and be heads-up, and steal the blinds, completely decides the range of hands you get to play. Where you opened from and where your opponent called from, or three-bet from, dictates what ranges you each will have, and how post-flop should be played.

Type Of Opponents – Are the players left to act loose, tight, passive, aggressive, are they professionals or amateurs? This is important information to know about each of your adversaries in every decision you make.

Image/History – How have you been playing at the table? How well do your opponents know you, what do they know about your game, and how well do you know them? Without considering this information you can easily make large mistakes.

Ability Of Opponents – This is the most important aspect to know about who you are up against in a hand and can entirely dictate how you approach your decisions.

Poker Table Tops

Type Of Tournament – Does it have a good structure, or is it a turbo? Micro stakes or is it a High-roller? Is it an easy field or a tough one?

Ryan's Poker Table #4

Stage Of Tournament – Whether in the early stages, the mid stages, the money bubble, late stages, the final table bubble, or the final table, every aspect of a hand is dictated by this information.

This may seem like a lot of information to have to worry about, and it is. Really having a good grasp on all of it will take a lot of time and experience at the table with a concentrated effort to excel at using it all. Once you become great at utilizing it there will be an increase in your ability to analyze the general aspects of the hand and give you more confidence in your decisions.

Thank you for reading this article. I wish you the best of luck at the tables! ♠

Ryan Laplante is a 2016 WSOP Bracelet winner. He has more than $4.5 million in tournament cashes with seven WSOP final tables. His website is PokerProtential.com, and he is a coach for Chip Leader Coaching